Scientific feats in 2012 became 'one for the history books'

NASA and other nations have launched spacecraft into Earth orbit for decades. Rovers have already explored Mars. And scientists have known since the 1960s about the possible existence of a nearly undetectable particle that fills the gaps in understanding physics and the universe.

Out of the most celebrated scientific achievements and events of 2012, many relied on pages straight out of the history books, yet provided new twists that captured the world's attention.

During the year, Hawthorne-based SpaceX became the first private company to launch a spacecraft, sending its Dragon capsule to the International Space Station and starting a new era of space missions.

The Mars Science Laboratory - aboard the Curiosity rover and managed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory - landed at one of the lowest elevation points on Mars and began a two-year mission to find evidence that life might have once existed there.

The Higgs boson

Photo released by CERN on Monday April 7, 2008 shows Emeritus professor at the University of Edinburgh, British Peter Higgs inside the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). (AP Photo/Keystone, University of Edinburgh/Alan Walker)

Also, two international teams working at the Large Hadron Collider on the Swiss-France border - including a Caltech team - announced findings that could prove the existence of the elusive Higgs boson, aka the "God particle," named by the journal Science as the top breakthrough of 2012.

CERN, the international agency that runs the LHC, is shutting down the massive underground particle accelerator this year for maintenance, but research into the particle is expected to continue in 2013.

Mars Curiosity rover

Plenty more science is also expected from Curiosity this year, particularly when the rover turns its attention later to a possible mother lode of scientific discovery: Mars' Mt. Sharp.

"The complexity and the capability that Curiosity has just dwarfs all the other missions that we've sent to Mars in the past," JPL mission manager Mike Watkins said. "The fact the Curiosity has worked so well has been amazing."

Just getting to Mars was a notable achievement. Engineers designed a complicated landing procedure involving a parachute and a "sky-crane" that would lower the rover gently to the ground much like a helicopter.

NASA called the landing "Seven Minutes of Terror," and when it worked, the jubilant JPL employees - including "Mohawk guy," Bobak Ferdowsi - became worldwide stars.

Curiosity went on to make several discoveries, including identifying its landing site and as ancient river bed, but the mission is really just getting started.

Its first scientific results were mostly check-out procedures for the MSL instruments, but project scientist John Grotzinger set the rumor mill buzzing in November when he declared results would be "one for the history books." Speculation centered on organic matter, a major clue that life may have existed there, but the results turned out to be only hints that organic matter might be present.

Curiosity's final check-out, drilling, is expected to start in January at an area called Glenelg.

"We're trying to take a close circle of that area to find the best drilling target," Watkins said. "We want the rover straight and level, and we want to drill straight down below us."

The mission's success inspired NASA to announce a twin rover to launch by 2020. Another visit to Mars will come sooner, when the MAVEN orbiter launches in late 2013 to test the planet's atmosphere.

SpaceX

Closer to home, the SpaceX feats signaled that commercial businesses were finally ready to succeed NASA's space shuttle program, taking over supplying and transporting astronauts to the International Space Station.

In this April 29, 2012 photo provided by SpaceX, a SpaceX Dragon capsule on the company's Falcon 9 rocket is transported to a launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/SpaceX)

In May, the company's Dragon space capsule became the first privately made craft to berth with the International Space Station.

"It really shows that commercial space flight can be successful," SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer Elon Musk said at a press conference at the time.

SpaceX, whose official name is Space Exploration Technologies Corp., followed its May space station berthing with a second successful mission to the orbiting laboratory in October, starting the first of at least a dozen regular flights to the orbiting outpost.

Also in 2012, the 10-year-old company took big steps in its push to develop reusable launch vehicles by conducting several successful tests of its Grasshopper rocket, which is able to hover in the air and then land safely.

For 2013, SpaceX has several high-profile missions, including two more trips to the space station as well as a test launch of its experimental Falcon Heavy rocket. That rocket would be the world's most powerful, with twice the force as the next largest rocket.

The Falcon Heavy and Grasshopper also would help advance Musk's dream of sending people to Mars to establish human colonies.

Other companies are throwing open the doors to commercial spaceflight ventures, including Virgin Galactic, Orbital Sciences, Golden Spike and Planetary Resources. The latter hopes to mine resources from asteroids.

There were plenty of other headline-grabbing events in 2012 that made nods to the past.

Record setting skydive

Felix Baumgartner's supersonic skydive in October - from 128,100 feet - not only set several world records, it provided critical information about how human can withstand such speeds.

Baumgartner made the jump on the 65th anniversary of Chuck Yeager's flight, the first to break the sound barrier.

Endeavour's final flight

The Endeavour space shuttle, a final reminder of NASA's space program achievements, took a tour through the nation in September atop a Boeing 747, buzzing key sites such as JPL.

Several days later, Endeavour traversed Los Angeles city streets from LAX to the California Science Center, as tens of thousands of spectators gathered to watch the 2 mph crawl.

"It is so impressive, I actually tear up every time I see it," Susan Garcia, the museum's membership manager, said before the shuttle exhibit opened Oct. 31. "It's an emotional experience. There is such a personal connection people have made to Endeavour."

A new center is planned for the shuttle's permanent display, to be built by 2017.

Celebrating Voyager

Former Voyager spacecraft team discussing Voyager mission adjacent to an engineering model of Voyager at JPL. (SGVN/Photo by Walt Mancini)

In September, NASA and JPL celebrated the 35th anniversary of the twin Voyager probes' launch, looking back at their visits to the solar system's four gas giants, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

A few months later, scientists announced that Voyager 1 had ventured into a newly discovered layer of the solar system as it pushed farther than any other man-made spacecraft, moving ever closer to interstellar space.

Notable deaths

The space community also said goodbye to two pioneers: Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, died on July 23. Neil Armstrong, the first human to set foot on the moon, died on Aug. 25.

Another notable death was someone who never made any scientific accomplishments, but shaped much of the conversation. Los Angeles-based science fiction author Ray Bradbury died on June 5, before he had a chance to see Curiosity's landing.